MN Supreme Court Rules Warrantless Urine Tests Unconstitutional

MN Supreme Court Rules Warrantless Urine Tests Unconstitutional

Posted By
Brockton D. Hunter P.A.

Earlier in the year, the United States Supreme Court deemed warrantless
blood tests to be unconstitutional. Now, the Minnesota Supreme Court has
taken things a step further and has made the same ruling regarding warrantless
urine tests within the state. The decision prevents police officers from
demanding urine tests from people who have been arrested or detained for
suspicion of driving while intoxicated (DWI), and it removes the criminal charges that could be triggered by a urine
test refusal.

Your Right to Your Body’s Privacy

As with the blood test ruling by the greater U.S. Supreme Court, the Minnesota
Supreme Court cited that urine tests were incredibly invasive. It actually
stated that urine tests were much more invasive than blood tests since
the suspect had to complete a “private bodily” function on-demand
and in front of a stranger. When put in such simple terms, it is hard
to argue against that logic.

People completing a urine test were also essentially forced to reveal intimate
details of their own health and personal life to investigators. Urine
samples can reveal a myriad of issues, including whether or not someone
is pregnant, epileptic, or carrying a sexually-transmitted disease. Since
none of that information is useful in a DWI investigation, there is no
reason to force someone to reveal it.

Furthermore, the presence of readily available, totally nonintrusive breath
tests makes urine tests largely unnecessary. Breath tests can be just
as accurate as a blood or urine test and only require someone to do something
they do literally all the time: exhale oxygen. Breath tests also only
reveal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level and nothing more, such
as what diseases the suspect may have.

It is believed that there will be no detriment to public safety following
the elimination of mandatory urine testing. Also, the increased use of
near-instant, electronic warrants makes it fairly easy for law enforcement
to obtain a warrant when they actually need to perform a detailed search
and seizure.

For more information regarding the recent ruling, the
Star Tribune has posted an online article
here that you can read. If you have been arrested or convicted of a DWI that
you believe was based on an unconstitutional urine test,
contact our Minneapolis criminal defense attorneys from Brockton D. Hunter P.A.
We are led by Attorney Hunter, who has been selected to the Minnesota
Super Lawyers® list for six years in a row, consistently ranking him in the top 5% of
attorneys in the state.